It will depend upon the size and type of wood but when I can, I usually split them into 3 pieces with 2 rip cuts either with a chain saw or my band saw to get the juvenile wood out of the blanks. Juvenile wood is usually the first 5 to 10 growth ring. In general I will basically cut a 1 to 2 " slab that gives a little room on either side of the pith.
This will give you 2 nice turning blanks that will be more stable with less cracking than if you leave the log whole.
Then I cut the slab to remove the juvenile wood from it. This leave 2 very nice quarter sawn boards (the red pieces) that can be dried and then resawn or used for spindle turning handles or whatever. I will sometimes keep the center piece too if the wood is really nice but it may crack pretty badly. The rest of the slab pieces and the 2 bowl blanks will often not crack at all and if they do, not enough to be a problem.
I usually still put Anchorseal on the ends of everything but even when I do not, they will crack much less. BTW, many turning clubs buy Anchorseal by the barrel and sell it to members at cost. Rockler's Green Wood End Sealer is exactly the same thing and is cheaper than the Name brand.
I do not think it really makes much difference whether you remove the bark or not so I just leave it on because it is less work. This also leaves the option for a live edge bowl later.
EDIT to add: I never put Anchor seal on the side grain after splitting it in half. I do not think it is necessary. You mostly just need to slow down the moisture loss on the end grain. Moisture leaves the end grain much more quickly than the side grain, which what causes end cracks, so just sealing the ends allows the entire piece to dry more evenly.
--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.
